Controls Engineer, Power Generation & Microgird

The role

You will design, program, integrate and commission on-site power generation and microgrid control systems for large AI data center campuses. You will own control architecture and functional requirements across generation packages, balance-of-plant systems, electrical protection, microgrid controls, and data center monitoring.

What you will do

• Design, program and commission plant power controllers and microgrid control systems.
• Develop control sequences for grid-connected, islanded and transition modes.
• Coordinate active power, reactive power, voltage and frequency controls.
• Define plant response to generator trips, loss of utility power, and equipment failures.
• Work with OEMs to define boundaries between various control systems.
• Review utility and transmission-provider interconnection requirements.
• Work with utility and equipment vendors to define controls and interfaces.
• Review load-flow, short-circuit, stability, step-load and electromagnetic transient studies.
• Develop and review functional design specifications, sequences of operation, and network architecture diagrams.
• Develop and execute real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-loop tests.

Required qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on experience designing, programming, integrating and commissioning industrial controls for power generation, industrial plants, utilities, or mission-critical infrastructure.
• Strong hands-on experience with PLC, DCS, SCADA, historian, industrial-networking, and control-system integration.
• Experience with plant power control, generator controls, synchronization, load sharing, islanding and load-shedding schemes.
• Experience integrating controls with power generation equipment, protective relays, SCADA/EPMS and other plant systems.
• Experience developing functional specifications, sequences, I/O, alarms, graphics, and factory or site test procedures.
• Ability to troubleshoot across software, instrumentation, electrical, mechanical, communications, and operating-process boundaries.
• Understanding of industrial cybersecurity, redundancy, failover, and change-control practices.
• Bachelor's degree in controls, electrical, mechanical, chemical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field.

Nice to have

• Experience with major turbine or reciprocating-engine control platforms and microgrid controllers.
• Experience with data center power systems and rapidly changing AI or GPU loads.
• Experience integrating gas generation with BESS, MV UPS and grid-forming or grid-following inverters.
• Experience with EMT studies and model validation for weak-grid or islanded power systems.
• Experience developing automated simulation tests and regression test libraries.
• Experience with network redundancy, industrial protocols, OT cybersecurity and remote support for critical facilities.
• Experience transitioning from temporary generation to permanent power systems.
• Experience with IEC 61850 (MMS, GOOSE, SV), Modbus, OPC UA, DNP3, EtherNet/IP, or comparable industrial protocols.
• Professional Engineer license, functional-safety training, or industrial-cybersecurity certification.

About the company

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. The Data Center Engineering team defines repeatable technical standards and carries them through design, construction, commissioning, and operational readiness.